Introduction:
For my CLUE project, I am going to be looking into the differences in the college experience for both deaf/hard of hearing students and hearing students. To gather some perspective, I interviewed two people, a hearing guy and hearing girl on these topics:
1.) What is your first reaction when you see a deaf/hard of hearing student on campus?
2.) How can you tell that they are deaf/hard of hearing?
3.) How likely would you be to approach them and why?
The guy's response:
1.) My reaction...it doesn't usually phase me. I have dealt with multiple people who are deaf, blind, and mentally challenged.
2.) It can be hard to tell if someone is deaf but if someone is hard of hearing they tend to have some sort of hearing device.
3.) I would approach them like anyone else. And I probably would approach them. I tend to be a friendly person. I obviously would try and find a way to communicate without talking but it wouldn't keep me from introducing myself.
The girl's response:
1.) I think I would react similarly to how I react seeing anyone else. Curious as to who they are and maybe a little curious about how long they've dealt with that disability.
2.) If they speak sign language almost exclusively, their speech is slurred slightly, and/or they spend a lot of time looking at someone's lips when they're speaking.
3.) I would probably approach them if I knew their name or if we were in a class together.
Analysis:
I think I was surprised at their responses. I know that I personally am a friendly person but usually I wait for someone else to approach me. And when I see a deaf/hard of hearing person, even though I know some sign language, I usually will not assert myself in a conversation. I guess I just didn't expect the interviewees to be so forward and want to attempt at a possible friendship with such a language barrier.
I think this relates to college life because college is all about making new friends and putting yourself out there. If you don't approach people (hearing or not) you will make slow progress to finding people you like and sometimes people you don't like. It's all about trial and error.
For my CLUE project, I am going to be looking into the differences in the college experience for both deaf/hard of hearing students and hearing students. To gather some perspective, I interviewed two people, a hearing guy and hearing girl on these topics:
1.) What is your first reaction when you see a deaf/hard of hearing student on campus?
2.) How can you tell that they are deaf/hard of hearing?
3.) How likely would you be to approach them and why?
The guy's response:
1.) My reaction...it doesn't usually phase me. I have dealt with multiple people who are deaf, blind, and mentally challenged.
2.) It can be hard to tell if someone is deaf but if someone is hard of hearing they tend to have some sort of hearing device.
3.) I would approach them like anyone else. And I probably would approach them. I tend to be a friendly person. I obviously would try and find a way to communicate without talking but it wouldn't keep me from introducing myself.
The girl's response:
1.) I think I would react similarly to how I react seeing anyone else. Curious as to who they are and maybe a little curious about how long they've dealt with that disability.
2.) If they speak sign language almost exclusively, their speech is slurred slightly, and/or they spend a lot of time looking at someone's lips when they're speaking.
3.) I would probably approach them if I knew their name or if we were in a class together.
Analysis:
I think I was surprised at their responses. I know that I personally am a friendly person but usually I wait for someone else to approach me. And when I see a deaf/hard of hearing person, even though I know some sign language, I usually will not assert myself in a conversation. I guess I just didn't expect the interviewees to be so forward and want to attempt at a possible friendship with such a language barrier.
I think this relates to college life because college is all about making new friends and putting yourself out there. If you don't approach people (hearing or not) you will make slow progress to finding people you like and sometimes people you don't like. It's all about trial and error.